DAK TODAY - My own DAK Diorama - FINISHED

Finished!
Enjoy!

DAK TODAY - My own DAK Diorama - 03

In this stage, I finished the covering with molding paste, then I use small stones before it dry.
Next all is painted with a base of sand color.

Small stones and tyre tracks before dry

GENERALLEUTNANT KARL BÜLLOWIUS

Born: 2.3.1890 in Königsberg
Suicide: 27.3.1945 in Hospital Camp Forrest/Tennesse/USA

Promotions:

• Hauptmann: 1.6.1924
• Major: 1.4.1934
• Oberstleutnant: 1.8.1936
• Oberst: 3.1.1939
• Generalmajor: 1.4.1942
• Generalleutnant: 1.4.1943

Commands and Assignments:

• Pioneer-Leader of the 8 Armee: 26.10.1939-15.5.1940
• Pioneer-Leader of the 9 Armee: 15.5.1940-25.10.1942
• Pioneer-Leader of the Panzer-Armee Afrika: 25.10.1942-13.3.1943
• General der Pioniere in Heeresgruppe "Afrika" (25.2.1943-9.5.1943)
• Commander of Division von Manteuffel: 30.4.1943-9.5.1943)
• General of Pioneers with Heeresgruppe Afrika: 13.3.1943-9.5.1943

Awards:

• 1914 Iron Cross Second Class
• 1914 Iron Cross First Class
• 1939 Bar to 1914 Iron Cross Second Class
• 1939 Bar to 1914 Iron Cross First Class
• German Cross in Silver: 30.11.1942

Notes:

Campaigns: West (1940); Russia (1941/1942);
North Africa (1942/1943)
Captured in North Africa - American POW (9.5.1943-27.3.1945)

Thanks to Francisco de Asís Romero y Medina

(Adicional info and pictures needed)

DAK TODAY - DelPrado Warrant Officer - Afrikakorps

This is a lead soldier - Warrant Officer from the Afrikakorps 1942 was manufactured by DelPrado in 2000. I found this in a antique exposision in last June. Here goes the pictures (click on images to see it big):

DAK TODAY - My own DAK Diorama - 02

Part 02
Then I start to cover the cardboard with modeling paste:

The stairs...

All cardboar is covered with the moulding paste

To be continued...

DAK TODAY - My own DAK Diorama - 01

I start a new diorama.
The ideia was to use some old DAK figures, equipment and vehicles and join them in a new diorama using new technics. Here goes the first steps:

Start to building the ruined desert house in cardboard

A ex NVIDIA Video Card box...

The prototype display

 

Have the ideia of use a old and bad constructed kit of a Leichter Panzerspähwagen Sdkfz 222 to stay half inside the ruined house

(I dont do this kind of things for almoust 20 years)

Soon I will show the next stage of this diorama.

DAK GUNS - Schwerer Panzerspähwagen Sd.Kfz 231/2 "8Rad"

The crew of a reconnaissance Sd.Kfz 231 resting near a well

German was an early exponent of armoured cars, partly because, unlike tanks, they were not restrited by the Versailes Treaty, and they were a cheap and quick way of mechanising the Army and giving industry experience of building vehicles to military specifications. The multy-wheeled German armoured cars resulted from studies using trucks with drive on four rear wheels to achieve a good cross-country performance.

VIDEO - Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps

At least a nice video.

Colorized but fine.

1941-42 Rommel and the Afrika Korps in Action! (HD)

Not in color but colorized...

DAK TODAY - 1/6 Soldier Story - Afrikakorps

This is a 1/6 Scale Afrikakorps from Soldier Story. Impresive!

 

LINK: http://www.soldierstory-toys.com/products_show.asp?id=72

DAK RELATED DOCUMENTS - Montgomery's Personal Message

(Click for big)

Montgomery's Personal Message for his troops just before Operation Lightfoot

August 1942: Churchill (left) with the new Commander of the 8th Army, General Montgomery (center).

GERMAN ARMY RANK TABLE COMPARATION

GERMAN ARMY RANK TABLE COMPARATION
HEER	LUFTWAFFE	KRIEGSMARINE
Grenadier	Flieger	Matrose
Obergrenadier	-	-
Gefreiter Obergefreiter Stabsgefreiter	Gefreiter Obergefreiter Hauptgefreiter Stabsgefreiter	Matrosengefreiter Matrosenobergefreiter Matrosenhauptgefreiter Matrosenstabsgefreiter
Unteroffizier	Unteroffizier	Maat
Unterfeldwebel	Unterfeldwebel	Obermaat
Fähnrich	-	Fähnrich zur See
Feldwebel	Feldwebel	Feldwebel
Oberfeldwebel Hauptfeldwebel	Oberfeldwebel	Stabsfeldwebel Oberfeldwebel
Oberfähnrich	-	Oberfähnrich zur See
Stabsfeldwebel	Stabsfeldwebel	Stabsoberfeldwebel
Leutnant	Leutnant	Leutnant zur See
Oberleutnant	Oberleutnant	Oberleutnant zur See
Hauptmann	Hauptmann	Kapitänleutnant
Major	Major	Korvettenkapitän
Oberstleutnant	Oberstleutnant	Fregattenkapitän
Oberst	Oberst	Kapitän zur See Kommodore
Generalmajor	Generalmajor	Vizeadmiral
Generalleutnant	Generalleutnant	Konteradmiral
General	General	Admiral
Generaloberst	Generaloberst	Generaladmiral
Generalfeldmarschall	Generalfeldmarschall	Grossadmiral
-	Reichsmarschall	-

THE LUFTWAFFE IN NORTH AFRICA (Part 2)

BF110

LUFTWAFFE ORGANIZATION
Rotte	2 planes
Kette	3 planes
Schwarm	4 or 5 planes
Staffel	from 9 to 12 planes
Gruppe	from 3 to 4 Staffeln, plus 1 Stabkette (command section)
Geschwadern	from 3 to 4 Gruppen, plus 1 Stabstaffel (command squad)
Fliegerdivision	3 Geschwadern
Fliegerkorps	Similar to a Fliegerdivision but with more planes
Luftlotte	2 Fliegerdivisionen

THE ITALIAN ARMY - DIVISIONE FOLGORE

Over the walls of the Italian El Alamein Memorial, there are these words: "Folgore Division: Legion of souls watching over the desert"

GENERAL DER PANZERTRUPPEN HANS-KARL FREIHERR VON ESEBECK

Hans-Karl Asmus Werner Freiherr von Esebeck (10 July 1892 – 5 January 1955) was a German General who commanded the 15th Panzer Division in the AfrikaKorps. He was also a conspirator against Adolf Hitler.


Von Esebeck had knowledge of and was sympathetic to the anti-Hitler conspiracy. He was arrested on 21 July 1944 and spent the rest of the war in concentration camps. Liberated at the end of the war he lived the rest of his life in poverty and died on 5 January 1955.

DAK TODAY - Diorama DAK Soldier - 1941 Libia

Diorama di Mauro G. di Paullo - SOURCE: ACTIONSOLDIER

VIDEO - ARMORTEK - DAK Sd.Kfz. 222 1/6th Scale Armoured Car

Armortek "All Metal" 1/6th Scale Sd.Kfz.222 Armoured Car from WWII.

Model build over a period of about 10 weeks. Over 70 hours were spent painting the final DAK scheme to depict a vehicle which would have been well used in North Africa. Armortek are a UK based Company supplying probably the best 1/6th scale radio control models on the market today.

GENERALLEUTNANT KARL BÖTTCHER

He was a Rommel's Artillery Group Commander and was in charge of several divisions during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Karl Böttcher was captured by the Western Allies in 1945 and was held until 1947.

• Born: 25.10.1889 in Thorn, West Prussia
• Died: 9.2.1975 in Bad Wimpfen

DAK GUNS - 105mm leFH 18

A SdKfz11 halftrack towing a leFH18 105mm gun

The 105MM (4.13in) leFH18 (leichte FeldHaubitze "light field howitzer") was the standard German divisional field-piece used throughout the World War II; it was designed by Rheinmetall in 1929/30 and went into service in 1935. A good, sound, orthodox design, it used a split trail with folding spades and a hydro-pneumatic recoil system split above and below the barrel, but retained a wooden or pressed-steel wheels and was mostly horse-drawn for all its life. However it was so solidly put together that it was rather heavy, and unable to be as mobile as the army would have liked. Although augmented by improved models in 1939/45, it remained in use and was kept in service by several European armies for some years after the war ended.

  

Calibre:	105mm (4.13in)
Weight in action:	1985Kg (4376lb)
Gun lenght:	24.8 calibre: 2.61m (102.7in)
Elevation:	-6.5º to +40.5º
Traverse:	56º
Shell type & weight:	HE (High Explosive); 14.81Kg (32.65lb)
Muzzle velocity:	470m/sec (1542ft/sec
Maximum range:	10675m (11.675yds)

"It had a heavy, simple breech mechanism with a hydro-pneumatic recoil system. The 10.5 cm leFH 18 had wood-spoked or pressed steel wheels. The former were only suitable for horse traction. Initially, it was not fitted with a muzzle brake. In 1941 a muzzle brake was fitted to allow longer range charges to be fired. This increased the range by about 1,800 yards and was known as the leFH 18M. In March 1942 a requirement was issued for a lighter howitzer. This led to a second modification, known as the leFH 18/40. This modification consisted of mounting the barrel of an leFH 18M on the carriage for a 7.5 cm PaK 40 antitank gun. The new carriage increased the rate of fire as well as making the howitzer lighter. Additionally, a more efficient muzzle brake was added, decreasing the recoil. Ballistically, the 10.5 cm leFH 18M and the leFH 18/40 are identical."

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

HAUPTMANN HANS-JOACHIM MARSEILLE

 Hans-Joachim Marseille - Der Stern von Afrika (The Desert Eagle)

DAK RELATED MOVIES - PATTON (1970)

  
PATTON (1970). Director: Franklin J. Schaffner. General George S. Patton: George C. Scott; Field Marshall Erwin Rommel: Karl Michael Vogler; Karl Marlden: General Omar M. Bradley

DAK GUNS - Pkw.K1 (type 82) KÜBELWAGEN

Pictures of a Kübelwagen's in use by the Afrikakorps

Rommel was the first General to use the Volkswagen during the military operation in France. He was so impresed by it that he, afterwards, when he was in charge of the Afrika Korps, reordered an ever increasing nunber of these vehicles. The Kübelwagen distinguished itself immediatly by is enormous efficiency on all kind of terrain, in spite of its small horse power (hardly 24 HP) and the drive on the rear-wheels only.

HERMAN GÖRING DIVISION

Hermann Göring Division Cufftitle also used in North Africa.

On the begin of 1943, the Herman Göring Division goes to Tunisia.

THE GAZALA LINE BATTLES

MAY 26-27 1942

The 8th Army front extended from Gazala to Bir Hacheim and was interlaced with huge minefields of a scale and complexity never encountered before. Behind this line loomed the strongly defended boxes of Knightsbridge and El Adem and finally Tobruk, occupied by experienced desert fighters. Even Rommel underestimated the strength of the forces mustered here. However, within 3 weeks of opening his offensive, Rommel would reduce this magnificent British army to a state of complete rout.

DAK GUNS - BMW R75

DAK BMW R75 from the 15th Panzer Division at the El Alamein Military Museum. Thanks to J. Porter

The original was a BMW R75, first produced in Germany in 1941 specifically for military use, primarily used with a SideCar. These military motorcycles were so reliable and successful (as also past/future models) in all climates from freezing snow to blistering desert that replica spin-offs were produced by disassembly and replication of captured BMWs in many other countries such as Russia, Korea, Japan, & China (many of these survived the war and are in museums).

VIDEO - 1942 The AfrikaKorps Retreat in Tunisia

German amateur 8mm footage of the Afrika Korps retreat in Tunisia.
Music score (Demo Only) added in 2011 by ROMANO-ARCHIVES (A Tiny Window - "Kaike en Sholio").
Encoded by ROMANO-ARCHIVES.

OBERLEUTNANT ERBO GRAF VON KAGENECK

 
Erbo von Kageneck was born on the 2th of April 1918, in the rhenische estate of his grandfather baron Clemens Schorlemer, Lieser. Erbo was just a pet name for his rather unusual first name. He was named after one of his ancestors, Arbogast, who was a knight of Xth century.

VIDEO - 1942 The AfrikaKorps' Arab Recruits!

German amateur 8mm footage of the Afrika Korps giving the Combat Banner to Arab troops recruited in Tunisia. Integral, better quality re-masterized version.

BIR HACHEIM

January 29 1942 after the Bengazi's fall Rommel reaches the at Bomba's golf and to Ain el Gazala's line. At May 26. The Axis forces consists in the 15st e 31st Panzer Divisions (320 combat vehicles), the Italian Division Ariete (240 combat vehicles), the Italian Division Trieste and a German Motorized Division. The Axis forces wait for the arrive of second Italian Division; the Littorio.

CURIOSITIES AND FACTS - ROMMEL'S DECEASES

During his campaigns in Africa, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, "The Desert Fox," himself made repeated trips back to Berlin due to illness. As evinced by newsreels showing Rommel often with a handkerchief to his nose, Rommel suffered from nasal diphtheria. Reported Rommel's medical advisor in August 1942: